About

”The biggest adventure your can ever take is to live the life of your dreams”

About Me:

Hey there, my name is Tyler and I am the guy who will be writing all this non-sense, so it is only fair that you get to know a little bit about me. I am a twenty-something who lives and works in Chicago. Before my working career started, I lived a fairly typical middle-class lifestyle growing up in the suburbs of Chicago and eventually graduating from the University of Illinois with an engineering degree. When I’m not nerding out on personal finance, I enjoy doing things like traveling, learning, ultimate frisbee , water skiing, snowboarding, and spending time with friends & family.

Shortly after graduation I became fascinated with personal finance and wanted to learn as much as possible. I was happily greeted with the financial independence/ retire early (FIRE) community which gave me the goal to be work optional by my early 30’s with some extended travel mixed in before that. My strategy to reach having enough for financial independence (FI) is simple:

1. Don’t use debt

2. Live below you means by increasing income and keeping expenses low (but still have fun)

3. Put savings towards paid-off rental properties

Currently I have one rental property with the goal of adding a few more. Even though I am no where near FI now, I am already realizing the benefits of having no personal debt and some FU Money. I’ve found that money buys you the freedom and options to live your life however you please. Options like traveling the world, taking a sabbatical, being a stay-at-home mom/dad, or whatever other interests and desires you may have are all made possible by having some money. On the other hand, when you are drowning in debt and living paycheck-to-paycheck life is stressful and can turn into a catastrophe with one small emergency.

My goal is to get you from a life of stress and worry to one of endless possibilities through making smarter financial decisions. The core of what I write about will be around lifestyle design and intentional living with a pretty big focus on the financial side of things. Hope to see you in the comments!

Hi, my name's Tyler and this blog is all about creating a life of freedom and options through smart financial decisions and living simply.. Read More